Friday 13 October this year marked 100 years to the day since the unveiling of the Shildon’s War Memorial, now one of the town’s best loved and recognisable landmarks, standing close to the gates of St John’s Church.
On that date, which fell on a Saturday back 1923 a procession reportedly half a mile long made its way through the streets to the memorial where ex-service men and their families took pride of place. The 6th Durham Light Infantry band played as the choir and assembled public sang Rudyard Kipling’s Recessionary, which features the now immortal words, Lest we forget.
The memorial, paid for by members of the public co-ordinated by an organising committee, was unveiled by Major General F A Dudgeon, General Officer Commanding of the 50th (Northumbrian) Division, and after the ceremony the memorial was committed into the custodianship of what was then Shildon Urban Council, now Shildon Town Council, who have maintained and looked after it ever
since.
“Our war memorial is a highly distinctive one,” a spokesperson for the Town Council told us, “and the figure atop is thought to be one of very few, if not the only, depiction of a solder specifically kneeling on a war memorial anywhere in the country.”
It was with dismay, therefore, that Councillors learned at the October sitting of the Town Council that it was now probable that money spent repairing collision damage to the base and railings of the memorial, inflicted by a reckless driver, was unlikely to be recouped.
Knowing the damage was an offensive sight to Shildon folk and disrespectful to the memories of the fallen, the Town Council sought quotes and commissioned the repairs, which cost over £4,500. Councillors and officials anticipated that the cost could be recouped from the driver through the legal proceedings.
The driver, Damon Christopher Askew of Shildon, failed to attend his first hearing, resulting in issue of an arrest warrant. At a second scheduled hearing on April 6 this year, he pleaded guilty to the charges of having no insurance, failing to report the accident and driving without due care and attention. He was disqualified from driving for 6 months, ordered to pay CPS and court costs, plus a £300 fine. To the great dissatisfaction of the Town Council, however, no compensation was awarded with respect to the damage to the memorial.
To take things further, a County Court Judgement was subsequently served to the driver’s given address. It is believed however that the offender had moved address by that time and there was no response to the order. His current address or details of employer have not been able to be accessed through available official channels. Though it is understood that there are further options open to the Town Council to pursue the matter though legal channels, without such pre-requisite information further action would now be cost prohibitive.
“It’s hugely frustrating,” continued the spokesperson, “that the costs of the repairs had to be covered by each and every one of Shildon’s tax-payers in this way, and also that the legal justice system has let those tax-payers down. “We’ve a modest budget and could have put the repair money to other productive use.
“To have been driving like that was an irresponsible and dangerous act in the first place, but to disrespect the town so as to not even come forward with an offer to pay toward the damage is very poor. I suspect he’s probably somewhere feeling pleased with himself for avoiding that.”
As for the memorial, there are expectations that its centenary will be marked with a small ceremony in the near future, and anticipation is high for another great show of public support from the townsfolk when it once again becomes the focal point for Remembrance Sunday next month.
Shildon & District's local community newspaper.
